"Pastor Oma, this is a small token of my devotion to the Lord. Please accept it." A woman took ten Copper Coins from her clothes and placed them in Oma's hand.
Pastor Oma smiled benevolently. "The Lord will bless you and your family."
The woman's face lit up with delight. She took out another five Copper Coins and placed them in his hand. "I'll offer a little more. Please put in a word with the Lord for me and ask him to bless Baron Claire too!"
At the respectful mention of Claire, Pastor Oma's brow creased slightly. Still, he maintained his peaceful expression as he replied, "If she believes in the Lord, then the Lord will naturally protect her."
Oma paused before adding, "It's just that she's been back in the barony for so long, yet she still hasn't visited the church even once..."
The woman froze for a moment, then defended Claire. "Baron Claire must simply be too busy. She should come by eventually."
Pastor Oma smiled faintly and changed the subject.
"Why didn't your husband and child come with you today?"
This woman was an especially devout believer. She came every week without fail and always brought her husband and child along.
"Oh, my husband went to work for Baron Claire. He's terribly busy now, so I didn't force him to come. As for my boy, he's studying at the school Baron Claire opened. This is class time, so he couldn't come with me."
"Hm?" Pastor Oma frowned. "Are those things more important than attending worship? If their hearts are not devout, they will be punished and sent to hell."
At that, panic crossed the woman's face. She hurriedly explained, "They're really too busy. I'll definitely drag them here to pray another day!"
Only then did Pastor Oma nod in satisfaction. "The Lord will bless you."
Today was not a day of worship. After the woman left, the church became empty once more, leaving Oma alone to watch over it.
Oma walked to the church entrance, weighed the fifteen Copper Coins in his hand, and gazed mournfully at Nafu City's landmark building—the Baronial Manor.
Ever since Claire returned to the barony, fewer and fewer people had come to his church. Fewer than thirty people had come to pray today, and he had collected less than five Silver Coins.
This baron really did not understand the rules. The first thing she should have done upon returning to the barony was come to the church to be baptized. Yet he had waited for her for so many days, and she had not even shown the slightest intention of coming.
And she had turned Nafu City upside down, leaving those believers with no time to come pray. Sooner or later, someone like her, who did not believe in the Lord, would go to hell.
The believers said she had even brought in a doctor who treated illnesses at a cost of just a few dozen Copper Coins. That had cut off the church's main source of income. He usually charged at least thirty Silver Coins each time he used Holy Light Healing on someone! Ever since that hospital opened, he had had no business these past few days. No, that wasn't right—no believers had come to receive the baptism of holy light.
"Great Supreme Bright Lord God, my Lord, please forgive my careless words just now!" Pastor Oma immediately began to repent.
Most hateful of all was that school. It actually would not let the children leave to pray. It was simply restricting the children's freedom—an unforgivable sin!
If this continued, would Nafu City's younger generation not be ruined in Claire's hands? If they were influenced too deeply by that school, if their faith in the Lord weakened or they simply stopped believing in the Lord altogether, then Nafu City would become a playground for faithless demons!
The more Oma thought about it, the worse it seemed. He could not let Nafu City be destroyed by Claire. He had to save this city that was gradually falling into corruption! He had to rescue those children from the school! At that moment, he was the very embodiment of a savior hero!
Oma grew more and more excited, his heart filled with a sense of mission. He tucked the Copper Coins into his clothes and strode toward the school.
Pastor Oma entered the school. Most of the students had gone to pray under their parents' guidance before, so they were fairly familiar with Oma.
Thus, under Oma's lead, they quickly gathered together. Several hundred students raised their heads and looked at Oma on the platform.
The moment Oma opened his mouth, he spoke with righteous fervor. "Children! I have come to save you!"
"Your bodies have been bound within this school, and your souls have been bound here as well. Think about it—how many days has it been since you went to the church to pray? You are so irreverent that the Lord will be unhappy. But it's all right. I know many of you do not want to come here, so I have come to save you!"
A little boy below rubbed his aching backside and raised his hand. "That's not true. We all really like coming here. The teachers are all talented, and they speak so nicely. They aren't mean to me like my mom is, and what they teach is interesting too. I like it here a lot." His aching backside was from the beating he had received last night after failing to outrun his mother.
Pastor Oma shot the boy a displeased glance. "Wisdom was bestowed upon us by the God of Light. It is inborn. What knowledge could you possibly learn here?"
The little boy opened his mouth. "Then do you know why untreated water can't be drunk?"
"What untreated water? Why can't it be drunk?"
"Then do you know what in water can make people sick if they drink it?"
"Water is simply water, made of water elements. What could possibly be in it that would make people sick?"
"Ha! Pastor, you don't even know as much as I do. Let me tell you, some unclean water contains Germs, and drinking it can make people sick." The little boy repeated what Claire had taught them a few days ago, showing off what he had just learned. Of course, he was young and did not know better; most adults would not dare contradict a pastor like that.
Pastor Oma's face instantly flushed red, and his brows shot up as he shouted:
"You! You are spouting nonsense! Illness is a trial bestowed by the Lord. As long as one faithfully serves the Lord and comes to the church to receive holy light baptism, one will remain safe and sound! There are no so-called Germs in water that can make people sick!"
In his desperation, the little boy blurted out, "Then why can doctors treat illnesses too?"
The instant he said it, he was pleased with his clever little mind. He had actually found a flaw in the other man's words. Was this the benefit of thinking that the teachers always talked about?
"You, you, you!" Pastor Oma anxiously pointed at the boy. "Someone like you, who doubts the Lord, can never enter the Divine Kingdom!"
In the end, Nafu City was simply too remote, and Pastor Oma was too weak. If it had been a cardinal in the royal capital, he could have easily explained such matters away.
The Germs were supposedly created by the Lord to test whether people were loyal to him. Only those with sufficient faith in the Lord could survive. Doctors also existed because of the Lord's kindness. He could not bear to see his servants suffer so much, and there were far too few pastors, so he had granted doctors the ability to treat illness.
Science needed to be falsifiable; religion did not. That was why it could explain anything away.
"What is your name?!" Furious, Pastor Oma stepped down from the platform.
Before he had taken more than a few steps, a figure blocked his path. The newcomer was Regan.
Since the young mistress placed such importance on the school, Regan naturally took it to heart as well. Whenever he had time, he would come by to check on it. When he arrived today, he noticed that something was off. Students were continuously heading toward the platform, and he had thought Claire had come to the school again.
After rushing over, he discovered that it was Nafu City's Pastor Oma, and that the man was spouting some incomprehensible nonsense.
Regan had spent time among the nobles of the royal capital. He had probably seen more pastors than Oma had, and he had long been familiar with their rhetoric. Besides, his young mistress had studied under mages since childhood, so he naturally had no favorable impression of these church people.
"Pastor Oma, our students need to attend class. Please leave." Regan smiled pleasantly, and he now seemed to carry a faint trace of Claire's manner.
Blocked by Regan, Oma also calmed down and realized that he had acted impulsively. With Regan standing before him, he had no choice but to let the matter go and turn to leave. He would come back another time.
However, the moment he stepped out of the school gates, Regan sent someone to summon two knights from the military camp to serve as guards, lest those religious lunatics sneak in again.
Thanks to "Bao, Baoqin" for one monthly vote, "Moon-Eyed Cat" for one monthly vote, and "0x522" for the five hundred Qidian Coins reward. This is an old friend who has been following me since my previous book. Thank you for your support!
Thank you, everyone!!!!
Before you continue